


This kid was going to be the death of him.

by TerrificMango



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: (except the father figure is his real dad at the same time), Angst, Father Figures, Gen, Identity Reveal, Irony, secret identity shenanigans, there is so. so much irony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-09-24 15:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17103326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerrificMango/pseuds/TerrificMango
Summary: “The way you’re acting, it’s like you’re Spiderman’s dad or something.”“What- I- I’m not acting like his dad!” Jefferson protested. “I’m just trying to look out for the kid. Someone has to.”Maria just gave him a look. “That’s exactly like something a dad would say.”





	1. the birth of spider-dad

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of this tumblr post: http://cynicalwindmill.tumblr.com/post/181257445839/silvermoonphantom-ironinkpen-concept-after-a

After one meeting, Jefferson Davis thought the new Spiderman was a little short and had a bit of a weird voice, but didn’t really think twice about it.

After two meetings, Jefferson realized the new Spiderman was  _ really _ short for a hero, almost as if he was young, and the voice sounded almost fake, like he was trying to make it sound deeper on purpose.

After three meetings, Jefferson decided the voice was definitely fake, which made him wonder what on earth the new Spiderman was trying to hide.

After four meetings and seeing numerous interviews on television, Jefferson finally realized that the new Spiderman was a kid. And not a college kid, not even a high school kid, but a kid around the same age as his  _ son. _

And that’s when the trouble really began.

____________________

“This new Spiderman...I think he’s Miles’s age,” Jefferson said suddenly one night.

Rio paused in washing the dishes from where she stood at the sink. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve talked to him face to face,” he admitted. “It’s just, he’s too short to be an adult, and his voice always sounds like he’s trying to make himself sound older on purpose. He really seems like a young kid.”

Rio started washing the dishes again, but more slowly this time, pensively. “What are you going do about it?” she asked carefully.

Jefferson rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what I  _ can _ do about it, really,” he admitted. “It doesn’t sit right with me to have a young kid out there fighting villains, but it’s not like I can just tell him to stop. I doubt he’d listen to me.”

Truthfully, up until just a few weeks ago, telling Spiderman to stop superheroing and having him listen would have been a dream come true for Jefferson. He’d never liked the vigilante and thought New York would be better off with justice left in the hands of qualified, accountable professionals. Now the same was still true, but for vastly different reasons.

“It’s just, being a superhero isn’t just fun and games. I saw his fight with Kingpin,” Jefferson continued, his mind flooding with memories of the event. “At one point, Kingpin knocked him down, and he didn’t get back up for nearly half a minute. It was terrifying, and that was with me just watching it. No kid should have to go through something like that.”

“I mean, the old Spiderman was still in high school when he first started,” Rio said quietly. “It’s not like this is something new, Jefferson.”

“Yeah, but-“ Jefferson sighed. “You know what he did, right after the fight? He hugged me and then told me he loved me. How am I supposed to interpret that? Especially now that I know how young he is?” 

A terrible thought suddenly struck him. “What if- what if the reason he acted that way towards me was that he was actually upset? He’s a child, maybe he actually was really scared during that fight.” He turned to Rio. “What if he was just trying to reach out to the only person nearby at the time?”

Rio’s look of surprise turned into a worried frown. “If he’s as young as you think he is, I wouldn’t be surprised. This was his first fight as far as we know of, after all.”

“God…” Jefferson pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Does anyone else know about his identity? Is there anyone he can even talk to about all of this?” He started to pace. “How about his parents? Do they know how much danger he’s putting himself in?”

“The only one who can tell you all that is Spiderman, Jefferson,” Rio said helplessly.

“But how am I supposed to do that?” Jefferson said. “It’s not like I could just point blank ask Spiderman about his parents.”

___________________________________

“Do your parents know that you’re Spiderman?”

Spiderman froze and just stared at Jefferson, blinking a few times. Around them, people rushed around, cleaning up the wreckage that the latest villain had caused. “What?”

“I mean, uh-“ Jefferson stumbled. He hadn’t meant to just blurt it out like that. “This is a dangerous job. I’d think your parents would have a right to know that you’re out here risking your life so much. Do they know?”

“I- well, uh-“ Spiderman stammered, and his voice came out nervous. His whole body had tensed up, Jefferson realized.

Jefferson instantly backtracked. He didn’t want to scare the kid off. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry about your identity. It’s okay if you don’t want to answer.” He turned to leave.

“Wait.” Jefferson turned back to see Spiderman staring quizzically at him. “So you just genuinely want to know about my parents, because you don’t know? There’s no other reason?”

“Why would there be another reason?” Jefferson said, bemused.

“Oh. Wow. I mean, it’s nothing,” Spiderman corrected himself. He let out a nervous laugh. “I thought you were talking about something else.”

“O-kayy,” Jefferson said. The awkwardness of asking Spiderman about his  _ parents _ was suddenly starting to hit him and he actually wanted to leave,  _ now _ -

“And, uh, to answer your question…” Spiderman said slowly, making Jefferson stop. Spiderman shifted his weight, his hands twisting together anxiously.

“My parents don’t know,” he said quietly. 

A beat passed, and then Spiderman turned and jumped, swinging off into the night. As he disappeared into the horizon, Jefferson just stared after him.

___________________________

“His parents don’t know, Rio,” Jefferson said, plunking down into a chair. He dragged his hands down his face. “Oh my God...his parents don’t even know he’s Spiderman. Can you imagine?”

Rio’s eyebrows knit together. “But even if they don’t know he’s Spiderman, they must notice him disappearing all the time, or getting injuries. How could they not tell?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea how he’d be able to hide something like that,” Jefferson said, shaking his head. “What really worries me is that it seems like there’s no one looking out for this kid. If his parents don’t know, what happens if he gets seriously injured or disappears? He can’t take care of everything in his own.”

A subdued expression fell on Rio’s face. “You’re thinking of the old Spiderman.”

Jefferson nodded. “Yeah.” He sighed. “You know, they say he died alone, and most of his friends and family didn’t even know his identity until after he had already died. I just can’t imagine something like that happening to a kid so young.”

There was a silence between them, filling the kitchen.

“But he’s not going to listen,” he said finally. “Even if I try to get him to quit being Spiderman, he’s not going to listen to me. Those superhero types never do.”

“Well, you never know,” Rio offered. “Maybe you could get him to stick to small stuff. Just minor crimes, not big things that could get him killed.”

“Maybe you’re right, Rio,” Jefferson said slowly. “Maybe that’s the only way to get through to him.”

___________________________

But it turned out to be easier said than done, because of course it was.

The next time he saw Spiderman, it was at yet another crime scene. People were rushing around, escorting out the villains, taking care of the victims- and Jefferson had a job to do too, but when he saw Spiderman standing alone, he could only think that this was his chance to talk to the kid. 

“Have you ever thought about...you know...not being Spiderman?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Jefferson could feel Rio rolling his eyes at him.  _ Ay, mi amor… _ Well, words were never his strong suit.

Spiderman just stared at him. “What?”

“I-“ Jefferson coughed awkwardly. “Well, you know, this is such dangerous job for a kid your age. Are you sure you couldn’t use your powers for something a little more safe?”

Spiderman squinted at him. “I can handle it,” he said after a pause.

“Well- yeah, I know you can,” Jefferson said. “But that doesn’t mean you can just keep putting your life at risk.”

“Actually, I think it kind of does,” Spiderman returned. “It’s my job to protect people and that’s what I’m going to do. You...you don’t have to worry about me.” He turned to go.

A wave of frustration hit Jefferson, and on impulse he reached out to grab Spiderman’s shoulder. “Just, just look. I have a son who’s about your age.” Spiderman’s eyes widened and his mouth started to open, but Jefferson cut him off. “And I know you’re doing the whole thing with the voice to try and sound older, but it doesn’t fool me. I know you’re a pretty young kid.”

Jefferson sighed. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I don’t want you to get killed out there just because you think you’re invincible.”

Spiderman was staring up at him, his eyes wide. He started to shift a little and Jefferson quickly took his hand off his shoulder, feeling a bit sheepish. He still had to get one last thing in, though.

“Look, I know saving people is your whole deal. I know I can’t convince you to stop that. But please, just listen to me and be careful, alright? Stay as safe as you can.” Jefferson stared down at Spiderman, willing him to make this easy.

There was a long pause between them. Finally, Spiderman looked away. “Y-Yeah,” he said quietly, and if Jefferson hadn’t known better, he could have sworn he heard his voice crack. Spiderman took a deep breath. “I’ll- I’ll try.”

They just stood like that for a few seconds, and then Spiderman turned and was gone again, swinging off into the horizon. It left Jefferson wondering whether he had actually gotten through to the kid. Either way, though, he knew that now he would have to do whatever it took to make sure this new Spiderman didn’t get hurt, because it didn’t seem like he was going to stop heroing on his own anytime soon.

God. This kid was going to be the death of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After seeing into the spiderverse I looked at my sister and said “I need to write a fic for this RIGHT NOW” and lo and behold I am here folks
> 
> Also there is a serious lack of identity reveal in this fandom as of now (which is weird because I would have thought it would be super popular immediately) so anyway I gotta rectify that. Hopefully I will be able to update this semi-often because I’m on break right now, but looking at my past track record...all bets are off. ahahaha.
> 
> My main tumblr is cynicalwindmill and my writing tumblr is cynicalwrites. Go check them out!


	2. dad instincts ACTIVATE

“Okay, that’s it. What is it with you and the new Spiderman?” Maria finally said to him one day.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jefferson answered. In reality, he knew exactly what she was talking about. They were sitting together in a patrol car, and had just been listening to the radio when Spiderman came up in a report. It hadn’t even been about him- just an offhand mention that he was swinging around in the middle of another report- but Jefferson had still snapped to attention for any news about the little hero.

Maria groaned. “You know what it means. You used to be Mr. I-Hate-Spiderman all the time, and now suddenly you’re constantly looking for news about him and volunteering to help out every time he catches a villain. I know you go out of your way to talk to him at basically every crime scene. What gives?”

“I don’t talk to him at  _ every  _ crime scene,” Jefferson said uncomfortably. He wasn’t being that obvious about it, right? Right?

Maria raised her eyebrows, her expression dripping with skepticism. Jefferson sighed and knocked his head back against the seat.

Truth be told, Jefferson was doing everything Maria had described and more. It was just that it was the only thing he could think to do. He had already given Spiderman his whole lecture about being safe, and Spiderman had seemed to take it seriously (or at least he hadn’t laughed off Jefferson’s concerns right off the bat, which he had honestly half expected the hero to do). But Jefferson had quickly realized that even if Spiderman had been sincere about trying to be safer, he had no way to tell how that actually translated to his heroic activities. Spiderman didn’t exactly broadcast what he was doing every minute of the day; a lot of the time, the general public- Jefferson included- didn’t even know that Spiderman was fighting some new villain until he had already defeated them. That left a lot of gaps in Jefferson’s knowledge of what exactly that kid was out there doing, too many for his liking. Was he being any more cautious than before? Was he staying out of situations that (in Jefferson’s opinion) were too much for him? Or was he just recklessly throwing himself into danger in the same way that he had been before? Jefferson had no way of knowing.

So he had ended up essentially hounding Spiderman down any and every time he popped up, trying to check up on him and make sure he was okay. Jefferson had given up any hope of convincing Spiderman to actually give up the superhero business completely at this point, but this was the next best thing he could do to make sure the kid stayed safe. He knew that the way he was acting looked a bit weird from the outside, especially whenever he volunteered to be part of the patrol sent to deal with a Spiderman situation despite being all the way across the city, but he hadn’t thought it would be  _ that  _ noticeable.

Maria was still waiting for an answer. Jefferson just shrugged awkwardly. “You know, it’s just that the new Spiderman is pretty young. Like, a lot younger than the old one was. I just think that someone should make sure that he’s safe.”

Maria snorted. “Okay, I get where you’re coming from, but still- keep Spiderman safe?  _ Spiderman? _ ”

Jefferson groaned. “Okay look, if you have to know- I have a son the same age as him. The same age as what I think he is, anyway. So that’s what I think every time I see him out there fighting crime. I can’t help but get a little concerned about him.”

Maria laughed a little bit more. “So let me get this straight- the new Spiderman reminds you of your son, and that’s why you’re out here every day chasing him all over the place and getting worried about him every other minute.”

“Well, yeah…” Jefferson said defensively. He hadn’t thought Maria would find it so funny.

“God, this is so great. It’s like you’re Spiderman’s dad or something.”

“What- I- I’m not acting like his dad!” Jefferson protested, spluttering. He definitely hadn’t expected this kind of reaction.  “I’m just trying to look out for the kid. Someone has to.”

Maria just gave him a look. “That’s exactly like something a dad would say.”

“Ugh…” Jefferson pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. He wasn’t being like a dad, right? He just had a healthy amount of concern for a teenager putting himself in so much danger regularly. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

Right then, the radio crackled back to life. “Spiderman’s been sighted fighting some muggers over by Linden and Pennsylvania. Requesting units to support and most likely apprehend the criminals when he’s done.”

That was a little far from there; he could go to the scene, but it would look ever so slightly odd. Jefferson looked sideways at Maria. She was pointedly avoiding his gaze, casually inspecting her nails. 

“Come on. We both know you want to go,” she said without looking up.

Jefferson dragged one hand down his face, but he still started up the engine. Outside the corner of his eye, he could see Maria starting to smirk at him.

“Stop that. It’s not  _ that _ weird.”

“Yessir. Sure it’s not.”

By the time they got over to the right location, with the muggers webbed to the side of a building, there were already a few other of his coworkers there. Some of them gave him weird looks, but he could care about that later (or possibly never). The most important thing was that Spiderman was still here.

“Hey! Spiderman!” Jefferson called out, getting out of his car. Spiderman turned from where he had been about to swing away, releasing a just-fired strand of webbing with a flick of his wrist. When he saw Jefferson, he raised a hand in greeting.

“Hi! What’s up, officer?” Spiderman said brightly as Jefferson made his way over to him. Spiderman had stopped using that horribly fake accent ever since Jefferson told him he knew it wasn’t real, but his voice still sounded weirdly altered, like he was trying to change it. It made Jefferson wonder what the hero was trying to hide- but prying into Spiderman’s identity wasn’t really his priority, right now.

“Ah, nothing much with me, just normal stuff on the job,” Jefferson said absently. He was looking at the webbed up muggers, who by now were being escorted to the patrol cars by the others. 

“Muggings are good, that’s quick and easy to take care of and usually not as dangerous as some of the other stuff you do,” Jefferson told Spiderman, who nodded just a little. The first time he had caught up with Spiderman after a fight to lecture him on safety, he had seemed taken aback by it and like he wanted to leave, but now it had become so regular that Spiderman seemed to expect it whenever Jefferson showed up at a crime scene.

Jefferson caught sight of a gun being held by another officer, having taken it from the muggers, and he frowned. “Guns are still bad news though, especially if they’re hiding it at first and they’re able to just pull it out on you with no warning, so you still have to be careful. I’m assuming that your suit isn’t bulletproof-“

“Oh, I know it’s not,” Spiderman said casually. Seeing Jefferson’s slight look of alarm, he hastily added, “And that’s not because I’ve gotten shot, I just...know the person who made it.”

Jefferson briefly wondered at the fact that Spiderman hadn’t made his own suit (who could have made it for him?) but he moved past it toward the pressing matter at hand. “So that means you’re vulnerable to bullets just like everyone else, and that means you have to be just as careful as everyone else, no matter how many fancy powers you have. You understand?” Jefferson had, frankly, lost count of how many tips like this he had given to Spiderman. He could only hope it was making at least some progress in getting the kid to be more cautious.

“Uh huh,” Spiderman said, his head bobbing. “I mean, uh, yeah. I will do that. Yes.” He flashed a finger gun at Jefferson before seeming to instantly regret it and awkwardly putting his hand down. 

Slow, but sure, progress.

“So uh, you got anything else for me, officer?” Spiderman said, looking up at him. It made Jefferson briefly wonder if Spiderman had anywhere to be, which immediately triggered another thought.

“Yeah. Do you finish your homework before you go out fighting crime every day?” he said without thinking.

_ Why did he always just blurt out questions wherever Spiderman was concerned?  _

Spiderman’s mouth dropped open a little bit. “Do I  _ what? _ ”

_ Oh god, why had he done that.  _ “You know, you always seem to be out heroing in the afternoons when most kids are doing their homework,” he said awkwardly. “Do you get all your homework done before then, or…” Jefferson suddenly frowned at him. “I feel like I’ve seen you around during the times when school is going on. Do you  _ skip-“ _

“I don’t skip school!” Spiderman protested. He scratched the back of his neck. “Or well, not  _ often _ , it’s just when something really big happens that I have to.”

“You can’t just leave school to be Spiderman!” Jefferson said, scandalized. “What do your teachers think?”

“I...may just tell them that I’ve suddenly gotten really sick all the time,” Spiderman mumbled, getting faster and faster towards the end of his sentence.

“I can’t believe this,” Jefferson said, crossing his arms. “This isn’t the sort of example Spiderman should be setting- are you even done with your homework tonight?”

“...Nnnnnnno? But it’s not even that much,” Spiderman said slowly. Jefferson gave him a disapproving look. “Fine, fine, fine, I’ll go do it right now, I swear,” Spiderman said, putting his hands up as he started walking backwards out of the alleyway. He shot off a web at a nearby building.

“See ya, officer!” he said as he jumped up to swing away.

“Stay safe! And do your work!” Jefferson yelled after him. He watched him swing around a corner and disappear- and then he slowly put his head in one of his hands. 

“Oh my God…” Even beyond all the dangers of being a superhero, which had been enough to worry about on its own, this kid was skipping school and taking time away from his homework to be Spiderman. It was like all the different things he had to worry about with this boy kept multiplying. He could feel a migraine coming on.

Suddenly, he remembered he wasn’t alone there. He turned around quickly, and realized that all of the other officers had already left (thank God). But there was one patrol car still left. Jefferson’s stomach dropped.

He walked over to his patrol car and opened the door. There, Maria was still sitting in the passenger’s seat. She just raised her eyebrows at Jefferson, an air of smug self-satisfaction about her.

Jefferson got into the driver’s seat. “Not one single word.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Maria replied, but she still kept grinning as they drove away.

______________________________

It took a few days, but Jefferson eventually decided that he, officially, had three tiers of priority when it came to looking out for Spiderman:

1\. Physical safety. This was obviously the most important one, since he really,  _ really  _ didn’t want the kid to get seriously hurt out there while fighting a villain. The only good news was that Spiderman seemed to be taking at least some of Jefferson’s advice to heart, if the slight lessening in the amount of insanely reckless stunts was anything to go by (like when he tried to fight off twenty of the Lizard’s mooks at once in the middle of Times Square, like what had he been  _ thinking? _ ).

It was a relief because, frankly, Jefferson had no idea if anyone had actually trained this kid in all the Spiderman-ing he was doing, or if he was just winging it based on the way the previous Spiderman had acted (which had honestly been even more dangerous).

(Also, would it kill him to take it a little bit slower with the webslinging? Jefferson saw him swinging around town a lot, and he was  _ definitely  _ sure that that speed was unsafe, even for Spiderman- never mind his habit of randomly dropping down onto the streets and running between the cars while webslinging. One time he had landed on the road right next to Jefferson’s car in the middle of a patrol, and it had nearly given him a heart attack.)

2\. His life outside of Spiderman. Jefferson was not going to let Spiderman’s grades drop just because there was some bank robbery on 39th Street. This was, admittedly, complicated by the fact that Jefferson had no idea what Spiderman’s civilian identity was and couldn’t actually check on his grades or whether he had really done his homework or not. He hoped that just getting on his case about it regularly would be enough to convince him to stop blowing it off to be Spiderman, since Jefferson wasn’t sure what else he could do. At the very least, it had seemed to work the other day, since Spiderman had promised to do his homework after Jefferson had started lecturing him about it.

(Or at least, he had said he would. Spiderman wouldn’t  _ lie _ , right? Spiderman couldn’t lie.)

3\. Finally, there was Spiderman’s emotional health. Which was the most difficult to approach out of all of the three.

Jefferson would be the first to admit that he wasn’t the best at helping other people out with their feelings. It wasn’t his strong suit, and that was even when it was a normal situation and not something crazy like trying to counsel Spiderman. But it was a huge lie to say that he wasn’t worried about this kid- between having to fight every day, seeing all the civilian casualties and damages that came from battles, and of course, the terrifying fight with Kingpin,  _ Jefferson  _ wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle this job, let alone all that burden being placed on the shoulders of someone so young. Spiderman always seemed confident in public, but Jefferson was sure he couldn’t be completely unaffected by it all, and it...it hurt his heart to think about what this kid could be going through, with no one to talk to about it.

The fact that Spiderman had hugged him and told him he loved him was what he kept coming back to, he supposed. That had been the event that had really made him first concerned about how Spiderman was holding up, and now he kept replaying it in his mind, trying to figure out what had been going on in his head in that moment. Spiderman hadn’t tried to hug him since then, or even acknowledged that it had happened, and Jefferson wasn’t about to bring it up. (Not that he wouldn’t give Spiderman a hug if he wanted it- maybe it was because he already spent so much time worrying about him, but sometimes he saw Spiderman at crime scenes and he would really look like he could use one.)

Jefferson mentally reviewed over that last thought and sighed, rubbing his eyes. Maybe Maria was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I am really sorry for the long wait for this chapter! Right after I posted the first one, things got really crazy for me with college apps and then with academic decathlon (because yeah I’m a nerd lol). I was originally hoping for this chapter to be longer, but eventually to decided to just post what I had because you guys have waited long enough haha. Because the academic decathlon thing is still ongoing, I can’t promise when I’ll get the next chapter out, but I’m hoping that I can post it within the next two weeks.
> 
> Also, I have just been absolutely stunned at the amount of response this fic has gotten. Thank you all so much, all of your comments are so sweet and they’re what motivate me to keep writing!!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Main blog: cynicalwindmill  
> Writing blog: cynicalwrites


	3. dadness increasing by the second

“You’re bleeding!”

“What?” Spiderman looked down at his arm, where a rip in his suit exposed a nasty gash.

...And dark brown skin. Jefferson’s mind stuttered over that for a second, but he shook it off. This wasn’t the time to be speculating about Spiderman’s identity.

“Oh, yeah,” Spiderman said in surprise, then he just shrugged. “It’s not that serious, I’ll be fine.”

Jefferson wasn’t listening. “Wait here,” he said, rushing to his patrol car. He came back with his first aid kit, already fumbling to get it open- he hadn’t done this since the basic first aid training back in the police academy, but he was hoping memory would serve him right.

“Ah-“ Spiderman said quickly as Jefferson pulled out a bandage of the right size. “You don’t need to do that-“

Jefferson interrupted him. “Can I see your arm?”

Spiderman protested a little more and then finally gave him his arm. He stared at Jefferson as he slowly bandaged up his arm. Finally, Jefferson finished up with it and Spiderman pulled his arm back, inspecting the bandage.

“Huh. Nice. I mean, thank you,” he added hurriedly.

Jefferson closed the first aid kit and then frowned at him. “So, what do you normally do when you get injured?” 

Spiderman scratched the back of his head. “Oh, I usually just treat it myself…”

“What?” Jefferson gaped at him. “That’s not safe! Do you even know how to do this stuff?”

“Yeah, I do! My m- I mean, I know a nurse, and she taught me how to do first aid!” Spiderman protested.

“Why don’t you just go to a hospital or something?” Jefferson demanded. 

“I can’t go to a hospital or people will start asking why I’m injured all the time!” Spiderman answered.

Jefferson opened his mouth to retort and then closed it as the implications of that sentence slowly processed. 

“...Does nobody else in your life know? Nobody that would know _why_ you were injured?” he said quietly.

Spiderman stared at Jefferson for a while. Finally he said, “Only...one. I know a few people through this...work...that help me sometimes, but they aren’t always around or have the time to help me, so usually I just take care of it myself…” He exhaled and looked down, avoiding Jefferson’s gaze. “Only one person from my normal life knows. And he doesn’t really know any more about this stuff than I do.”

“I’m guessing that he’s not an adult, then.”

Spiderman was still staring studiously at the ground. “Yeah. He’s a friend. My age.”

Jefferson swallowed. His mouth was dry. “Kid...you know this would be so much safer if your parents knew. Or any responsible adult. The more people who know, the more people who can _help_ you. You know that, right?”

And there it was. The moment Jefferson mentioned telling his parents, Spiderman clammed up. Got tense, just like that first time Jefferson had brought up his parents all those months ago. Jefferson didn’t know anything about what Spiderman’s situation might be like, but the message was clear- telling his parents, at least for the moment, wasn’t anywhere near on the table.

But God, what was Jefferson _supposed_ to do? This kid was hiding his injuries and treating them all by himself instead of telling anyone about it, just to keep his identity secret from everyone else. When he got injured, his first thought wasn’t to reach out to someone else for support, it was how he could prevent everyone else from finding out that he was hurt- and the conclusion he had reached was that he had to handle everything by himself. _Him._ This- this young kid, this _child_ who should be worrying about homework and friends and chores and- and _anything_ but how to treat his own injuries while making sure no one ever found out about his double life. Spiderman said he knew people (presumably adults) through his work- how come none of them had _stopped_ him, stopped this kid from doing something no kid should have to do? Did none of them see how inherently awful all this was?

Jefferson felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He’d never thought about what Spiderman did with his injuries. Even when he knew he hadn’t told his parents, he’d just assumed naively that it was still being taken care of safely. He’d never thought it could be this bad.

How could it be that there was only one person in Spiderman’s ordinary life that he trusted enough to tell them his identity? To tell them that he could get seriously hurt or killed on any given day? Did he not know that of course they’d want to help him, and that they’d want to know what was happening-

The pit of Jefferson’s stomach suddenly went cold. He was acutely aware he still knew next to nothing about the boy behind the mask. All this time he had assumed Spiderman had parents who would care if they found out, but what if-

What if he hadn’t told his family because he had the kind of parents who he knew wouldn’t-

Jefferson realized with a start that neither of them had said anything for a short while. After Jefferson had asked him about his parents again, a thick silence had grown between them, as Jefferson had been lost in thought while Spiderman seemed to still be trying to figure out a response.

Spiderman’s mouth was moving soundlessly, trying to articulate what he wanted to say. “I- the situation with my parents is complica-“

“It’s, it’s okay,” Jefferson interrupted him quietly. “You don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to.”

He didn’t want to press Spiderman any more about his parents, not when it was clearly a touchy subject, even if he didn’t know anything about why that might be. And he wasn’t going to convince Spiderman to reveal his identity to more, non-parents people late at night on 86th Street, not when he’d probably already messed up this interaction a few times. But how else could he ensure this kid is safe? 

Jefferson made a snap decision.

“I know some people at this hospital.” He fumbled for a piece of scrap paper in his jacket, wrote down the name of Rio’s hospital, and handed it to Spiderman. “Go here, so you can get _actual medical treatment_ for your injuries.”

“What?” Spiderman looked down at the name of the hospital, and his eyes widened. “But- I don’t want to bother- and I don’t have the money to pay you-“

Jefferson wanted to tear his hair out. Why were superheroes always so stupidly self-sacrificial? He’d explain the situation to Rio and she’d take care of it. And anyway- “You’re literally Spiderman. I’m sure you’ve saved a bunch of the staff already. They’ll treat you for free.”

Spiderman still looked uncertain. Jefferson groaned internally- he swore, convincing this kid to adopt the slightest modicum of safety was like herding cats- and looked him in the eye. “Look. Promise me you’ll go. I’ll talk to them, make sure they don’t ask about your identity or anything like that.” He tries cracking a joke. “If nothing else, it’ll help me sleep at night.” (Okay, maybe not entirely just a joke.)

Spiderman stared at him for a couple more seconds and then sighed, looking away. “...Okay. I promise,” he said slowly, finally.

Jefferson resisted the impulse to say _thank god_ out loud. Instead he nodded and said, “Good. That’s good.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Spiderman jumped up and swung away, because that seemed like how all of their conversations ended.

“Stay safe! Make good choices!” Jefferson shouted after him. 

______________________________

Jefferson opened the door to the apartment and walked into the kitchen, sitting down on the couch with a sigh. 

“Something happen today?” Rio asked, pouring out a cup of water.

“Not really,” Jefferson said, taking off his coat. “Oh, except- I made Spiderman promise to go to your hospital to get medical treatment for his injuries instead of just treating them himself, so he might start showing up there soon.”

Behind him, Jefferson heard the sound of spilling water. He turned around to see Rio still holding the pitcher over the now overflowing cup, staring at him. 

“Come again?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so it’s been a real hot minute since when I last updated huh *laughs nervously*
> 
> So I had planned this chapter to be a lot longer, but right after we got finished with county for acadec we went straight into preparing for the state competition, which made me even busier. Eventually I decided that I wasn’t really going to be making much more progress until after acadec was over and that you guys had been waiting long enough, so I decided to just post what I had, hence this. After acadec is over, though, I should be a lot less busy and hopefully can post with some modicum of consistency lol
> 
> (To all of you guys who wished me luck for acadec, thank you!!! Our team won county for the first time in the county’s history and broke the county score record as well, which was just !!!!! State is soon, so I’ll update you guys about the results of that too!)


End file.
